Nursing workforce
The global nursing shortage: priority areas for intervention
National and international level coordination and effort required to address global nursing shortages
Authors:
; ICN; Florence Nightingale International Foundation (FNIF)
Publisher:
International Council of Nurses , 2006
This report is part of the Global Nursing Review Initiative: Policy Options And Solutions, which examined nursing shortages and identified priority areas for intervention. This document summarises the two-year programme of work, and will be used as a tool for advocacy and policy support, as well as a means to engage key stakeholders and ICN partners. The initiative examined macroeconomic and health sector funding policies, and identified five key areas of intervention. These include: workforce policy and planning, including regulation; positive practice environments and organisational performance; recruitment and retention, addressing in-country maldistribution, and out-migration; and nursing leadership. The report outlines specific advocacy, research needs and other actions for each identified intervention.
The report concludes that the scale of the nursing shortage requires system wide solutions at the national and international level. It also requires strong links and the collective efforts of many groups including: donors, United Nations and intergovernmental agencies, policy makers and planners, nurses and nursing associations; regional nursing bodies, other health professionals, educators, employers, civil society, labour organisations and international financial institutions. Finally, strong leadership, ownership and major political commitment and investment by individual countries, as well as accelerated and increased support from the international community are critical to ensuring effective and sustainable strategies. [adapted from author]
